


Temped To Stay

by Tricochet



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Guilt, M/M, The Virgin Gary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 07:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tricochet/pseuds/Tricochet
Summary: John Constantine doesn't do feelings. At least, he shouldn't. He especially shouldn't drag Gary Green into the mess that is his life.





	Temped To Stay

He does sex, cigarettes, and exorcisms, but John Constantine doesn’t do feelings. He hasn’t in years. Every time he’s even tried, it hasn’t ended well for anyone. 

He tries not to snap when Ava finds her way into his apartment. 

“Sara told me you needed someone to talk to,” Ava says as a sort of explanation.

“Did she now?” 

“Yeah. Says you’ve been more moody than usual and convinced that you’re destined to watch everyone you love suffer until you die.”

“Well, she’s not wrong,” John says, dodging Ava’s attempt to swipe the bottle out of his hand. “People like me and her don’t get happy endings. I told her to let you go before you become one of us.”

“I wasn’t supposed to get a happy ending either,” Ava says. She pushes the skull of a large animal to the side and sits down on something that might be furniture. “I’m a clone, John. I was the twelfth in line. The others all died. The fate of any of them could have been mine, but I’m here. Maybe it’s never going to be easy for any of us, but that doesn’t mean we can give up.”

“What’s the real reason you’re here?”

Ava ducks as a live bat flies over her head. “It’s all about Gary, isn’t it?”

“What about Barry, love?”

“He’s the reason you’re being an asshole. You’re scared of him getting hurt. You have feelings for him.”

“I don’t feel, Sharpie.”

“No? You’ve been fooling around with him for months, long enough for him to wear your clothes and tell you that he’s a virgin. You’ve played his nerd games and done magic for him, but you haven’t actually fucked him yet. That’s out of character for a man without feelings.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. What happened to the guy who shags his way everywhere he goes but never even stays for a post-sex cigarette?”

“Gary’s one of the people who shouldn’t be involved in this. He doesn’t deserve to get mixed up with the likes of me. I’ve almost got him killed a few times already. The dragon seared half his hair off, and now the unicorn tried to rip him to shreds.”

“Then let him go. Sleep with him, and then tell him that’s all you wanted and leave before he gets involved.”

John sighs, pinching the cigarette between his fingers. “That’s what I should have done a long time ago.”

“But you haven’t. Because you know that would hurt him.”

“It’d be better for him in the long run.”

“You need to let him decide. Just know that if something ends up happening to him, you won’t live long enough to feel any sort of regret.”

Ava leaves the threat hanging over him and walks away. 

“If your girlfriend sent you to try to convince me to join the disaster crew, you did a shit job!” he calls after her. 

 

 

Gary rolls over and makes a pained noise. 

“Oof. Should not have tried to move.”

“What hurts?” John asks quietly, hating how caring he sounds. 

“A lot of things. But mainly, I think my bandage tore.”

John peels the bloody bandage off Gary’s chest. Gary winces again. 

“Sorry about that, love,” John says. He stands up to dig through Gary’s cabinets until he finds a new bandage. “How’s that feel?”

Gary smiles like he’s watching a magic show. “That’s good. So to be clear, with what we just did, I’m not a, you know-”

“You are no longer applicable to participate in any rituals involving unicorns. Congratulations,” John grunts, lying back down next to him and reaching to where he left his trenchcoat for a lighter.

“Wow,” Gary says, but he makes no motion of leaving. “I wonder how I’m going to write this into my campaign. No smoking rules in the building, by the way.”

John sets his lighter down. He could leave. It’d be easy enough to just say he needed a smoke and then disappear into the night. Gary would be better off. So would he. 

Gary reaches around and leans his head on John’s bare chest. John makes no move to leave. He can stay until the morning, and he can’t help but be tempted to stay forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow... so I have been inactive for a few months and even longer for this fandom, but I am back in town! I will resume my AvaLance spy WIP where I left off, and I am always accepting requests for ConstanGreen, AvaLance, and a few other things I like.


End file.
